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Indoor Gardening?

I want to try to grow a few of my own vegetables, but my problem is that I live in an apartment with not much direct sunlight. I don't have a porch or any land that I could use, and can't go onto the roof. I do have a big window seat that could hold a few pots, but that window faces North and has a big tree shading it half the day, so not much light for anything sitting on it. Are there any herbs or vegetables that don't require much light to grow? I do have a few low-light houseplants that do very well.

And I've tried to grow parsley, cilantro, and oregano in that window, but the plants sprouted and then died, and the money I paid for the seeds went to waste. I also know I couldn't really grow anything during winter, because the big window is drafty. Do I have any options for growing a little bit of food?

Re: Indoor Gardening?

Given the information you supplied so far, you would be hard pressed to get any success. There is such a thing as a hydroponic system which has a special light and growing trays. They actually have stores that specialize in them. I've only seen the advertisement and have not heard whether they work on not.
I know they grow herbs and spices but I don't know about vegetables. And I'm sure they are pricey.

Re: Indoor Gardening?

Thanks! That's kind of what I was thinking, but I guess I wanted someone to confirm it before I gave up completely!

I have seen one of those indoor growers in a store, and I was tempted... but the grower was 150 dollars, and a set of seed pods was 15-20. Plus whatever it would cost tokeep it plugged in- hardly worth the money, for me! I might invest in a small indoor growing light for herbs, though.

Re: Indoor Gardening?

I've heard good things about those pricey indoor grower things. They don't work if you have curious pets.

I don't think that you need a growing light if you try to grow green onions in a pot. You just plant the root end (after you've cut off the onion part for cooking) in a pot of soil and water it and put it under the lights or in a window. As I've read the roots will grow new green onions or scallions that you can trim off for cooking.

Re: Indoor Gardening?

Hi! I am from Wis. too, so I always get so sad about our short growing season here! Last year I had seen ads for the AEROGARDEN, I think thats what your refering to, growing in water....yes, expensive at first, but man do I LOVE IT! I asked for the first one from boyfrined for Christmas, and grew lettuce. YUM! Not really ALOT of lettuce to be honest, but enough for one.......

So, LOL, for my Birthday, I asked for another......planted more lettuce, THEN I saw a sale, and had a bunch of little Target gift cards and bought a third one, even. Yea, I really like them, but so do the cats. We had to put mini fences around them or the cats wouldve ate ALL the lettuce....my kitchen does look funny though. For the pods(seeds things) you can buy a reusable kit to grow your own seeds. Sign up with the company and they send lots of specials out too, and if you have a Bed bath and Beyond, they have sales and I use coupons too.

Re: Indoor Gardening?

You can grown greens outdoors - such as Kale, Collards, Mustard if you have a sturdy convering that reduces the outside temperature but allows the light to come in. Check out Square Foot Gardening (book) or Gardening in Four Seasons (author is ....Haas (another book)). You can probably get them at your local libray or through Interlibrary loan for $1 per book. I grew alot of stuff in my mild climate but I am pretty sure you can grown winter greens in your chilly, frosty, snow-filled climate also with the right coverings. Let me know your results.

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